[This is a reproduction from an undated photocopy. The Rodwell translation of the Qur’an is used. The verse numbers given are those used in that translation and may differ from others. A few changes have been made in punctuation and spelling. An interpolation has been made in brackets [brackets] where text is missing. The Arabic text is omitted where the words are not from the Qur’an (and this is indicated), as the editor was unable to find a source to reproduce it: perhaps that text can be added later. Editor]

[A publication offering similar proofs to these notes is Bahá’u’lláh: The Great Announcement of the Qur’an, by Muhammad Mustafa, translated by Rowshan Mustafa, and published by the Bahá’í Publishing Trust of Bangladesh. Editor]

1. We are told in the above quotation that even if a bad man should bring us news we ought to investigate:

“O Believers: If any bad man come to you with news, clear it up at once, lest through ignorance ye harm others, and speedily have to repent of what ye have done.” (Hurujat – 49:6)

2. It is the duty of every Muslim to investigate the claim found in the Bahá’í teachings that the Day of Judgment, repeatedly promised in the Qur’an, has indeed come, and that in the blessed persons of the Báb and Bahá’u’lláh we find the fulfillment of the prophecies regarding the two Manifestations to appear on that Day, i.e. the Mihdi and the return of Christ to the Sunnis and the Qa’im and the return of the Imam Husayn to the Shi’as.

3. Whilst it is true that in the Qur’an we are told that Islam is the one and “true religion” of God and that Muhammad is the “Seal of the Prophets”, this should not stop the God-fearing Muslim from fully investigating the truth about the Bahá’í Faith because;

a. The Qur’an calls upon us to investigate the truth, and not to imitate blindly.

b. We find in the Bahá’í Faith a key which makes the Qur’an itself explain to us the true meanings of “Islam”, “Seal of the Prophets” and the “Day of Judgment”.

4. In the Qur’an we are told that it would be wrong to imitate blindly one’s parents or spiritual leaders.

Let us see how the verses of the Qur’an confirm this point:

a. Muhammad explains how the unbelievers were led to turn down His message merely because they wanted to follow their fathers. According to the Qur’an the excuse of such unbelievers, never accepted by God, was: “Verily we found our fathers of that persuasion, and verily, by their footsteps do we guide ourselves.” (Zukhruf – 43:21)

b. Muhammad further explains that the desire to imitate one’s parents was true also in religions before Him: “And thus never before Thy time did we send a Warner to any city but its wealthy ones said: ‘Verily we found our fathers with a religion, and in their tracks we tread.’” (Zukhruf – 43:22)

c. The Qur’an also describes the condition of unbelievers when judged by God, and shows how the only excuse given by them would be that they were misled by their leaders – but, such an excuse would not be accepted by God:

“Oh, our Lord! Indeed we obeyed our chiefs and our great ones, and they misled us from the way of God.” (Ahzab – 33:67)

6. Let us remember that the Qur’an, which was sent by Almighty God for the guidance of men, could also be misleading, if not properly understood. This makes the investigation of truth on the part of every Muslim an absolute necessity:

“Many will he mislead by such parables and many guide.” (Baqarah – 2:24)

يُضِلُّ بِهِۦ ڪَثِيرً۬ا وَيَهۡدِى بِهِۦ كَثِيرً۬ا

7. Furthermore, the following verse teaches us that when an Apostle of God appears, men are likely to oppose Him, as He always comes with what their “souls desire not.”:

“So oft then as an Apostle cometh to you with that which your souls desire not, swell ye with pride, and treat some as impostors and slay others? (Baqarah – 2:87)

the Muslims consider the religion of the Qur’an to be final. The Bahá’í teachings throw light on this subject and show that this is not so. Islam is the surrender or resignation of one’s will to God’s Will as expressed by God’s latest Messenger. At the time of Muhammad, therefore, those who resigned themselves to the latest Manifestation of the Will of God through the Qur’an, were called Muslims. But the Qur’an does not stop there in the use and application of the word “Islam” or “Muslim”. For example Noah is called a Muslim (Yunus – 12:71-72). Abraham, Jacob and his children are like-wise called Muslims (Baqarah – 2:130-132). Moses and His followers are also called Muslims (Yunus – 12:83) and (A’raf – 7:125). Finally the Disciples of Christ are called Muslims, and here is the text:

“And when I revealed unto the Disciples (of Christ), ‘Believe on Me and on My Sent One’, they said ‘We believe’; and bear Thou witness that they are Muslims.” (Ma’idah – 5:111)

Thus, we see that what the Author of the Qur’an meant by “Islam” was the Universal Religion of God, past, present and future. Such a universal religion is, of course, the only “true religion” accepted by God, as the forementioned verses testify. Islam, in its true and universal sense, has now found expression in the Bahá’í Faith. Let the sincere Muslim, therefore, take these verses, defining the meaning of Islam, as a stepping stone, not as a stumbling block in his search for truth.